Ancient Mariner

Generalist play classics fan attitude combined with Bruce/Adrian bias. Pulling classics out of a hat, only because some people want to, that's not what Maiden was about back then.

They were a serious band, concerned about their latest creation. Bruce leaving did not change one iota. Big respect to the other guys for sticking to their guns, if they ever considered it (I doubt it)!

Ancient Mariner

Generalist play classics fan attitude combined with Bruce/Adrian bias. Pulling classics out of a hat, only because some people want to, that's not what Maiden was about back then.

They were a serious band, concerned about their latest creation. Bruce leaving did not change one iota. Big respect to the other guys for sticking to their guns, if they ever considered it (I doubt it)!

I think you have not understood what I meant (I probably should have elaborated the argument further).

The problem, as far as I am concerned, is that they were playing the same limited number of overplayed oldies back then, with little to no imagination (and when they tried something different, like bringing back Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1998 it didn't last long). They managed to shake that up when Bruce and Adrian came back whilst at the same time promoting the new albums in the same way they have ever done (and should be done ). A perfect example of this is the setlist for the 2016/2017 TBOS tour, where some live staples were replaced with other old songs not played that often.

... Not to forget that during their latest tour do date (ARLT) they were doing exactly that (Prowler, Where Eagles Dare, Wasted Years, Transylvannia, Remember Tomorrow...) changing setlists from venue to venue (pretty rare for Maiden). And yeas... that was solely because Bruce was leaving (Hell! the whole reason for this thread is a concert DEDICATED TO BRUCE'S DEPARTURE).

Ancient Mariner

I think you have not understood what I meant (I probably should have elaborated the argument further).

The problem, as far as I am concerned, is that they were playing the same limited number of overplayed oldies back then, with little to no imagination (and when they tried something different, like bringing back Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1998 it didn't last long). They managed to shake that up when Bruce and Adrian came back whilst at the same time promoting the new albums in the same way they have ever done (and should be done ). A perfect example of this is the setlist for the 2016/2017 TBOS tour, where some live staples were replaced with other old songs not played that often.

Ancient Mariner

I think 2 Minutes to Midnight is the only one, or did they play Wasted Years too?

Although, how many songs pre 92 in general don't have a Steve credit? Not too many, and of the ones that don't have a Steve credit most of them are deep cuts rather than classics. Maybe Revelations, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Powerslave and Wasted Years are probably the only tracks that might have been expected to be played live during that period.

Ancient Mariner

... and BTW: back then I think that Bruce leaving was the better thing that could happen to Maiden since (IMO) NPFTD was a bit washed and FOTD as an album is really bad (one of the main reasons for that was Bruce's saturation with the Maiden universe and trying to adopt a new approach to their sound). If Bruce stayed their 10th studio album would've been quite different from what The X Factor ended up to be (a great and refreshing album)

Ancient Mariner

... Not to mention that back then he couldn't sing the majority of the other songs on key also. Heaven Can Wait was butchered beyond recognition, The Evil That Men Do was atrocious, the intro from The Number Of The Beast was ridiculous and The Trooper was an utter disaster. And in part it wasn't Blaze's fault... you cannot ask a baritone to sing the same a tenor does. They should have downtuned their guitars to D or pick another vocalist.
Not that Blaze is absent of responsabilities regarding his poor live performance (he even got out of key while singing tunes out of The X Factor). Fortunately Blaze improved as hell and nowdays his singing's really great (and he nails quite nicely old Maiden tunes in D as a quick survey through youtube will prove you).

Ancient Mariner

No Wasted Years... just 2 Minutes to Midnight (curiously it was one of the Dickinson era songs Blaze really pulled out live - others being Fear Of The Dark, Afraid To Shoot Strangers and to a certain extent The Clairvoyant)

Ancient Mariner

I think 2 Minutes to Midnight is the only one, or did they play Wasted Years too?

Although, how many songs pre 92 in general don't have a Steve credit? Not too many, and of the ones that don't have a Steve credit most of them are deep cuts rather than classics. Maybe Revelations, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Powerslave and Wasted Years are probably the only tracks that might have been expected to be played live during that period.

Ancient Mariner

I was talking about classic Maiden songs comparing to 90's stuff and not to the ones penned by Bruce (BTW my favorite Maiden album has exactly zero songs in that regard... and Bruce was already a band member for 5 years)

Ancient Mariner

And notice! They included 5 songs from the Blaze era during the several tours since the reunion and two in what is (for all porpuses) their ultimate best of tour (LOT and ZERO from their last album (not that I think TBOS should have be completely put aside but IMO no song from that album comes even near The Sign Of The Cross and only The Book Of Souls and TRATB tops/equals The Clansman)

Ancient Mariner

I remember buying this on PPV back in 93. I watched it a ton back then, but the performance for me really doesn't hold up and the magic parts were always lame.

I recall some of the camera work being different when comparing between the home video and what I saw (and taped to VHS). I can't recall exactly what, but there were subtle differences. And a few extra songs added for the video release (Transylvania, Afraid to Shoot Strangers were not on the "live" pay per view I saw).

Regarding the show, I always wondered if they had some kind of playback during Eternity, or whatever song they chop Dave's hands off. Man that was so lame, I feel like this should have been much more than it was.

Ancient Mariner

Regarding the show, I always wondered if they had some kind of playback during Eternity, or whatever song they chop Dave's hands off. Man that was so lame, I feel like this should have been much more than it was.

IIRC Davey just sits back and keeps playing in the little section between the main stage and the stupid magician bullshit stage. He's replaced by a similarly dressed guy (bag on his head) with a similar but not identical guitar.

Ancient Mariner

IIRC Davey just sits back and keeps playing in the little section between the main stage and the stupid magician bullshit stage. He's replaced by a similarly dressed guy (bag on his head) with a similar but not identical guitar.